The Light at the End of the Tunnel
by Ruby Sapphire Rose
Summary: (Part 1 of my "Unconditionally" trilogy) A stakeout turns into a robbery gone wrong and leaves Mako and his partner fighting for their lives. Now Asami, Bolin, and Korra must face the reality that they may lose them forever. WARNINGS IN PROFILE! PLEASE R&R!
1. Wrong

**A/N: The only characters that are mine are Kesuk, Jaya, Kanan, Ryuu, and the husband and wife (other characters that are mine will be introduced by chapter since I don't want to give any spoilers), everyone else belongs to Bryke and Nickelodeon. **

**This is the first story in my Legend of Korra trilogy and I've been writing it since the end of Book 1. I planned to have the whole trilogy up before Book 2, but life got in the way and I ran out of time. Then I decided to rewrite it to include the events of Book 2 and release the entire trilogy before Book 3 came out, but again real life got the best of me and I ran out of time. Now Book 3 is done airing and though this whole trilogy will probably not be out by January (when Book 4 will supposedly premiere), I'm hoping to have the first two stories up by then and have the whole third and final story up by the time the series finale airs (fingers crossed!).**

**One more thing, this story begins two years after the Book 3 finale, so the first few chapters contain A LOT of flashback scenes (which will be in italics). **

**Enjoy the first chapter...**

Mako blinked sleepily as his tired eyes looked over at the small corner store across the street while the woman sitting next to him in the car stretched her arms above her head,

grimacing at the sounds of metal rubbing against metal coming from her back. When she was done bringing her limbs back to life, she looked over at Mako.

"Sun's up, this punk doesn't hit past dawn." She said. "You ready to call it a night?"

They had been on the lookout for a thief who had been robbing convenient stores at night all over the city for the past two months. This particular store they were watching was

the only one that hadn't been hit and a favorite store of the police force and the United Forces. Kesuk, the shop's owner, knew nearly every officer and United Forces soldier by

name and Chief Bei Fong had already informed him that the store was going to be watched and not to identify Mako or his partner as police officers since they would be dressed

in civilian clothing.

Mako nodded.

"Yeah." He said. "One VERY long night."

Jaya gave a small smile to her partner of nearly two years. At first, she hadn't accepted Mako as a partner and it wasn't because of his reputation. Jaya had just earned the rank

of Detective just one month before Amon and the Equalists attacked the city. In their quest for information about where the Avatar and other well known benders were hiding,

they had taken away Jaya's bending along and the bending of her father Saikhan, and her partner and tortured them nearly to death. While Jaya had been able to escape with

her life, her father and partner hadn't been as lucky and both died just a few hours before the prisoners were rescued.

When Jaya returned to work after only three weeks of personal leave, Chief Bei Fong took pity on her and allowed her to pick her partner, despite Jaya's insistence that she

didn't need or want one. After considering her options, she picked Detective Kanan, an earthbender who made detective two years before and whose partner was also one of

victims of Amon's torture who, like Jaya's father and former partner, didn't make it out alive. Despite Jaya's attempts to push him away, Kanan did everything he could to get

along with her. But after nine months of trying, he finally gave up.

_Bei Fong was looking down at the written request when she heard a knock on her office door. _

"_Come in." She called out. _

_She heard the door open and somebody walk in before closing it. _

"_You wanted to see me, Chief?" She heard Jaya say. _

_She looked up at her officer. _

"_Detective Jaya, do you mind telling me why Detective Kanan has requested to be reassigned to another partner?" She asked. _

_Jaya shrugged. _

"_No idea Chief, I thought we were getting along fine." She said. _

"_Really." Bei Fong said. "Because according to his reassignment request, he said, and I quote, 'despite my many attempts to make the partnership work, I found Detective Jaya too difficult to get along with and I believe that, when faced in the worst of situations, this lack of partnership could put both of our lives in danger.'"_

_After being quiet for a few moments, Jaya spoke up. _

"_Chief, maybe it would just be best if..." She began. _

"_Don't bother finishing that, Detective, you will be getting a new partner." Bei Fong said. _

_Jaya sighed. _

"_Fine." She said. "I'll consider my options and give you my choice by the end of the day." _

_Bei Fong shook her head. _

"_No. The only reason I've let you pick your partner is because of who your father was and because of what you've been through." She said. "But I'm picking your partner this time and you will learn to get along with this one."_

_She walked over to the door of her office, opened it, and looked around for two certain detectives. _

"_Where are Lieutenant Ryuu and Detective Mako?" She asked. _

"_They left half an hour ago to testify in that domestic violence case." One of the other detectives said. _

_Bei Fong nodded, forgetting that the two were called to testify against a man who had been abusing his wife for years. There had been multiple calls made to the station from _

_either the couples' neighbors complaining about the noise coming from their apartment or from the wife herself calling to report that her husband had hit her. But when the _

_police would arrive, the wife would either apologize for the noise or say that she and her husband had gotten into a fight and she had lied about him hitting her out of anger. It _

_was only when the wife was beaten so bad that she ended up in the hospital that she finally decided to press charges. But despite the fact that he had given his wife a dislocated _

_shoulder and had broken her arm in three places, the judge had granted him bail, though he was ordered to stay away from his wife until the trial started._

"_Send them to my office when they return." Bei Fong said before walking back into her office and closing the door behind her. _

"_You're pairing me up with Lieutenant Ryuu?" Jaya said. "I thought his retirement started next week." _

"_It does." Bei Fong said. "It's Detective Mako who will be your new partner." _

_Jaya couldn't believe what she was hearing. _

"_That firebender who used to date the Avatar?! Are you kidding me?!" She said. _

_Bei Fong was about to answer her when there was another knock on the door. _

"_Come in." She called out. _

_The door opened and Lieutenant Ryuu and Mako walked inside. _

"_We were told you wanted to see us, Chief?" Ryuu said. _

"_What are you two going back here? Aren't you supposed to be in court?" Bei Fong asked. _

_Ryuu let out a sigh._

"_The wife recanted again and she and the husband are in the wind." He said. "Letters from the wife were sent to the prosecutor's and the defense attorney's offices, saying that she wanted the charges dropped and was sorry for all the trouble she caused. She also stated in her letters that she and her husband were going to leave the city to work on their marriage." _

"_How can we be sure that the husband didn't force her to write the letters?" Bei Fong asked. _

"_We searched both of their apartment and the husband's hotel room and found all of their possessions gone. The neighbors at the apartment said that the wife moved all her things into a moving truck a couple of days ago and told everyone she and her husband were leaving the city. She didn't say where they were going." Mako said. _

"_Well if she recanted, there's nothing we can do." She said. "Now, onto why I called you both in here." _

_She turned to Mako. _

"_Detective Mako, as you know, Lieutenant Ryuu's retirement becomes official next week. I was still considering whom your new partner would be and was going to tell you next week, but recent events have led me to make this decision and announcement early." She said. "Starting next week, you'll be partnering with Detective Jaya." _

_Mako gave her a nod and turned to Jaya. He didn't know much about her except that her father was the late Captain Saikhan and her reputation for not getting along with _

_anybody, but he was up for the challenge. _

"_I look forward to working with you." He said, holding out his hand for her to shake. _

_Jaya looked at it for a moment, then back up at him. _

"_Just so you know, Triad Boy. You are the last person I want as a partner." She said. _

_She walked out of the office, slamming the door behind her. Ryuu turned to Mako. _

"_Hey kid, you practice for bending test yet?" He asked. _

_Mako shook his head. Every year, all the benders on the force had to take a test in the target area of the gym to make sure their aiming and bending abilities was still at their _

_best. _

"_No sir, I've been meaning to, I just haven't had the time." He said. _

"_Well you better, the firebenders have their test at the end of the week." Ryuu said. "Go on down to target area, I'll be there soon." _

_Mako nodded and left the office. Ryuu turned to Bei Fong. _

"_Chief, no disrespect intended, but are you sure you want those two to be partners?" He asked. "I mean, Mako is a good kid, but he's been under so much stress since you all returned from fighting that terrorist group. And we both know how much Jaya has changed since Saikhan died. It's just a matter of time before there's a blow up between them." _

"_They both may have their tempers, Ryuu, but you and I both know how loyal they are to they people they care about." Bei Fong said. "Trust me, if that blow up doesn't happen in a months time, they're going to be on their way to being one of the best detective duos this force has ever seen." _

_It had been three months since Jaya and Mako had been paired up and though the blow up Lieutenant Ryuu predicted didn't happen, Jaya never once hid her distain for having _

_Mako as a partner. She would only speak to him when she was giving him an order or criticizing something he did. A lot of Mako's fellow detectives told him to just cut his losses _

_and ask Bei Fong for a new partner. Mako refused, determined to make the partnership work. He knew Bei Fong was at her wits end with Jaya because her attitude was not only _

_affecting her relationship with her fellow officers, but it was starting to affect her job as well. If Mako went to Bei Fong and requested to be reassigned to another partner, Jaya _

_would likely be suspended or, worse, kicked off the force. Little did Jaya know that she would soon be forever grateful that he didn't walk away because if he had, her job may _

_not have been the only thing she lost. _

_After he finished washing off the sweat from an hour and a half of working out and another hour and a half of target practice, Mako shut off the shower, wrapped the towel _

_around his waist, and stepped out in the men's locker room of the station's gym. He walked over to his assigned locker and, after opening it with one of the keys that was _

_hanging from a chain around his neck, changed into his uniform before relocking his locker and leaving for the office. When he got there, he looked over at his and Jaya's desks _

_and saw that she wasn't there. Mako knew that unusual of her. Normally, she would be well into her work by the time he came in after his morning workout, criticizing him for _

_taking too long in the gym and not focusing on his own work. He looked at another team of officers that sat next to him and Jaya, both earthbenders. _

"_Has Detective Jaya come in yet?" He asked. _

_Both officers shook their heads. _

"_She was still taking her frustrations out on the punching bag when we left an hour ago." One of them said. _

"_Yeah, can't say I blame her after her performance in the target area." The other one said. _

"_How did she do?" Mako asked. _

"_She was sluggish and off her game." The first officer said. "Missed nearly every target that was thrown at her." _

"_I'm gonna go check and see if she's still there." Mako said. _

_The two officers watched him leave with pity, wondering what it was going to take for him to finally give up on Jaya. _

_When Mako returned to the gym, he opened the door and saw something that made his heart fall into his stomach. There, laying face down in front of the punching bag in what _

_looked like drool, was his partner. He ran over to her and fell to his knees beside her, turning her over. _

"_Jaya, wake up! Come on, please wake up!" He said desperately. _

_Despite his pleas, Jaya didn't open her eyes. Mako put his ear close to her mouth, begging the Spirits for a sign that she was still alive and letting out a sigh of relief when he _

_heard her breathing faintly. Thinking fast, he picked her up and ran out the back door of the building, which led to the station's parking lot. Pulling the chain of keys from around _

_his neck, he ran over to his motorcycle, got on, and wrapped Jaya's arms around his neck, her legs around her waist, and made sure she had a secure hold on him. Then he _

_started the bike and drove to the home of the only person could think of that could help Jaya. _

_Kya had just finished helping Pema cleaning up from breakfast when she heard her name being called outside. She and Pema walked out to the courtyard to find Mako running _

_towards them. When he reached them, he fell to his knees, gasping for a breath and holding a young woman whose face was covered in some kind of clear liquid. _

"_Mako, what's...?" Kya began. _

"_There's...no time...to explain!" He said franticly between breaths. "She's dying!" _

_Kya quickly knelt across from him and immediately noticed the sweat that was forming on Jaya's forehead. She placed her hand on it and felt the heat that practically radiating _

_from her body. _

"_What happened?" She asked as she uncorked the water pouch that was tied around her waist and bended the water from it onto her hands. _

"_I went to check on her at the station's gym and found her passed out in the puddle of drool." He said. "She's barely breathing."_

_Kya nodded, noticing that Jaya's breath was coming in tiny gasps now. She moved her hands down her throat, stopping her chest. _

"_She has a fever that hasn't been treated. Because of that, it's moved to her chest." She said. _

_She moved her hands down to her chest and frowned at what she found, then moved lower down to Jaya's stomach. _

"_Just as I thought." She said. "Her stomach is small."_

"_Why is that a problem?" Mako asked._

_Kya turned to him._

"_That wasn't drool she was laying in when you found her, Mako, it was stomach acid and from the size of her stomach, she hasn't eaten anything for more than a day. She inhaled it when she passed out and that and the fever in her chest has caused her to develop pneumonia." Kya said. "Put her on the ground, I have to get her airway clear right now." _

_Mako did what he was told and placed Jaya on the ground and watched as Kya placed her glowing hands on his partner's chest and slowly moved them up. Suddenly, Jaya _

_began to dry heave in her sleep. Kya quickly bended the water back to the pouch and turned Jaya onto her side just seconds before she threw up. After repeating the process _

_two more times, Kya place her water-covered hands back on Jaya's chest. _

"_Okay, her lungs are clear, now we need to treat the pneumonia and cool her down." She said. _

_She turned to Pema. _

"_Can we use the bathroom inside the house? We need the bathtub." She said. _

_Pema nodded and Kya turned to Mako. _

"_Can you pick her up?" She asked as she got to her feet. _

_Mako nodded and stood back up, gently taking Jaya into his arms. They all walked into the house and down the hall to the bathroom, closing the door behind them. Kya turned _

_on the bathtub faucet and started filling the tub with cold water. Pema walked over to the toilet and put the lid down. _

"_Come sit down." She said. "You must be tired from running up those stairs." _

_Mako was about to tell her that he was fine, but the look in her eyes told him that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Letting out a sigh, he walked over to the toilet and _

_sat down, setting Jaya on his lap. Just then, there was a knock at the door. _

"_Miss Pema, are you in there?" They heard one of the air acolytes call out. "The baby is awake." _

"_I'll be right there." Pema called back. _

_She looked at Kya. _

"_Come and get me if you need anything." She said, then left the bathroom. Once the bathtub was filled, Kya shut off the water and walked over to the toilet. _

"_I have to take her clothes off, but I'll leave her bra and underwear on, then you can put her in the tub." She said. _

_Mako nodded and watched as Kya stripped Jaya of her shirt, pants, and shoes, then stood back up and carried Jaya over to the tub. The second he placed her in the water, _

_Jaya's eyes shot open and she started flailing her arms and legs around in the water. _

"_Whoa Jaya, calm down. It's just me!" Mako said. _

_Jaya stopped and looked at him, then looked around the small bathroom for a few moments before her eyes landed on Kya, who was standing behind Mako and holding her clothes. _

"_Wh...Who are you?" She asked. "And what are you doing with my clothes?"_

"_My name is Kya, I'm a healer and a friend of Mako's and the Chief." She said. "He brought you here when he found you passed out at the station's gym." _

_Jaya let out a huff and looked at Mako. _

"_You didn't have to go to all this trouble, I just went a little too far with my workout and passed out because of this small cold I got." She said as she tried to get out of the water. "Now we need to get back to the station before Bei Fong realizes we didn't leave on official business." _

_Kya put her hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. _

"_You're not going anywhere and you should be grateful to your partner. If he hadn't gone to check on you, you likely would have choked to death before anyone realized that something was wrong." _

_She turned to Mako. _

"_Stay here and keep an eye on her while I call Lin." She said. _

_Both Mako and Jaya's eyes got big. _

"_No, please don't call the chief!" He said._

"_Mako, I have to. She's probably knows that you're both gone by now." Kya said. _

_Mako just nodded, knowing that nothing was going to change her mind._

"_Great job Triad Boy, out of all the healers in this city you had to pick the one whose friends with the chief." Jaya said. "Now Bei Fong's going to have both of our asses." _

_Mako looked at her angrily. _

"_First of all, don't you EVER call me that again! Second of all, it's not me I'm worried about, it's you!" He said. "Do you even realize how close you are to being fired? All I have to do is go to Bei Fong and tell her I was to be reassigned to someone else and you're gone!" _

_Jaya looked at him. _

"_Who told you that?" She asked. _

"_The whole force knows!" Mako said. _

"_Alright, that's enough! I'm calling Lin whether you two like it or not!" Kya said. "Mako, make sure she doesn't pass out and slip under the water. I'll be back when Lin gets here." _

_She left the bathroom, leaving the two feuding detectives alone. _

_Mako walked back over to the toilet, sat down, and placed his head in her hands. It was quiet for a few moments, then Jaya spoke up. _

"_Look, I know this is probably coming too late." She said. "But before I'm officially loose the only thing I have left in this world, I just want you to know that I'm sorry for treating you the way that I have." _

_He looked up at her._

"_What are you talking about?" He asked. "You haven't lost everything. Isn't your mother still alive?" _

_She let out a huff. _

"_That stupid bitch." She said. "When I told my parents that I liked girls instead of guys, my dad got this look in his eyes like he had always known, then he threw his arms around and said it didn't matter to him and that he would always love me. My mother, on the other hand, started yelling that she didn't raise me to be like this. Then she threw me out of the house and told me not to come back until I learned not to be a freak." _

_She sat up a little bit and looked at Mako. _

"_I was eighteen, just out of the metalbending academy, and a week away from starting my police training. I didn't have a yuan to my name." She said. "Luckily former Lieutenant Ryuu, my dad's old partner, let me live with him until I finished training and earned enough money to get my own apartment."_

"_And that was the last time you saw her?" Mako asked. _

_Jaya shook her head. _

"_No, the last time I saw her was when I was recovering after the Equalists invasion. After our bending was taken away, those monsters questioned and tortured us for hours to get every scrap of information they could out of us." She said. "It wasn't until after the survivors were rescued that I learned what happened to my father and partner."_

_Mako stayed quiet, not having to be told what happened. The stories of what had happened to the people taken prisoner by Amon had been all over the newspapers and had _

_showed the people of Republic City just how truly evil Amon was. After the United Forces infiltrated the underground network of tunnels that the equalists used as a base, they _

_found the cells where the prisoners were being kept. Nobody had been fed since they arrived there and they all showed evidence of what the equalists had done to them. But _

_what they found in the cell at the very end of the long hall made even the most seasoned soldier lose his dinner. In that cell were the bodies of nine prisoners whose torture had _

_gone too far. Two of bodies were that of Chief Saikhan and Jaya's former partner. _

"_Because the hospital was too damaged to take any patients, all of the officers who were taken prisoner were taken back to the station, where the rack was turned into a makeshift clinic." Jaya said. "The ones who had minor injuries were treated and allowed to leave the next morning. But the ones like me, who had injuries that were deemed life threatening, had to stay in the rack. I spent five days there because of my three broken ribs and several lashes on my back, but I can't tell you much about it. The lashes became infected and caused me to develop a fever, so I was out of it most of the time. The one thing I do remember is my mother coming into the rack and telling me that she had come to identify my father's body and that it was my fault she was now a widow. She said because of my unnatural feelings, the spirits have taken away someone I love and will continue taking away people I care about until I learned how to love like a normal person." _

"_In other words, falling in love with boys instead of girls." Mako said. _

_Jaya nodded. _

_Suddenly, the bathroom door opened and both officers came face to face with their boss. Mako quickly stood up. _

"_Chief, I swear I was going to call you wh..." He began. _

"_It's alright, Mako. Kya told me everything." Bei Fong said. "Go back to the station, Detective Jaya and I need to have a talk." _

_Mako nodded. He turned and looked at Jaya one last time, not knowing if it would be the last time he would see her, before leaving the bathroom. Lin walked over to the _

_bathtub, sat down on the edge, and looked down at the young woman. Jaya didn't look back at her. _

"_Is it true?" She said. _

"_Is what true?" Bei Fong asked. _

"_If Mako went to you and said he wanted to be reassigned, you were going to fire me?" Jaya asked. _

_Bei Fong couldn't believe what she was hearing. _

"_Detective, at this point, losing your job is the least of your worries." She said. "Do you realize how close you came to death today?!" _

_Jaya didn't answer her. _

"_Kya told me you had a fever that's developed into severe pneumonia." She said. "And when was the last time you actually ate anything?" _

_Jaya was quiet for a few moments before saying, _

"_Two days ago, but we were searching for that waterbe..." _

"_That's not an excuse for starving yourself!" Bei Fong near shouted. _

_She got up from the bathtub and walked over to the wall across from it. After taking a few moments to calm down, she let out a sigh. _

"_You're a great detective, Jaya." She said. "But I can't stand by and watch you work your way to an early grave." _

_She looked up at her. _

"_You're going to be out on medical leave while Kya heals your lungs. She said that with the pneumonia and the stomach acid that you inhaled when you passed out, you're going to have to stay here for a least a week, then return over the next few weeks for further treatments." Bei Fong said. "When you're allowed to return home, you're going to start seeing Healer Huang."_

_Healer Huang was the force's mind healer and the last person Jaya wanted to see._

"_But..." Jaya began. _

"_No buts." Bei Fong said, stopping her. "Every officer who was taken by Amon has been going to see Huang except you and trust me when I tell you, Jaya, keeping all the pain locked up inside only makes it worse. When, and only when, both Kya and Huang have cleared you for duty will you return to work. Is that understood?" _

"_Yes ma'am." Jaya said, not having the strength or the will to fight anymore. _

"_Good." Bei Fong said. "Now get some rest." _

_She walked over to the bathroom door and opened it to leave, but before she did, Bei Fong turned around one last time. _

"_Oh, and Jaya?" She said. _

"_Yes Chief?" Jaya asked, not looking at her. _

_Bei Fong gave her a small sad smile and said, _

"_Your mother was wrong." _

**Endnote: What did you all think? Review and let me know. **

**The next chapter will be up the week after next (since next week's update is for "The Secrets That We Keep"). **

**Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!**

**Bye!**

**Ruby Sapphire Rose**


	2. Normal and Closure

**Healer Lia (pronounced "Leah") Huang, Masuru, Kesuk, Anana, and Mimi are mine. **

**Also, even though Book 4 is coming out WAY sooner than we all expected, I've decided not to wait till the end of the season to put this out and will continue to put up chapters every other week. I may include little bits and pieces of Book 4 (like Korra's new haircut), but most of this trilogy will be my own version of Book 4 and what will happen afterwards. **

**With all that said, here is the next chapter...**

_After staying at Air Temple Island for a week and promising to come back twice a week for further treatments and to eat regular meals, Jaya was allowed to go back to her _

_apartment. The next day, she started her twice–a-week therapy sessions with Healer Huang and even though she knew that she couldn't go back to work until she cleared her, _

_she still put up a fight at first. But little by little, she started to reveal more about her feelings of guilt about not being able to save her father's and partner's lives while they _

_were being held captive by the Equalists and her fear of not being able to live up to his legacy, the lifelong feelings of never being good enough for her mother, and her fear of _

_getting close to someone just to lose them in the end. After a few sessions from both healers, Jaya started to feel more like the person she was before everything with Amon _

_and the Equalists happened. She even started seeing someone, a young airbender who she meet while she was staying on this island._

_Jaya slid into the booth of the diner that was near her apartment. She had come there tonight for a couple of reasons. One was for her weekly date night with Opal, which would _

_be their last time together for a few weeks since Opal was leaving with a group of air acolytes to Ba Sing Se to help it's residences clean up after the rebellion caused by the Red _

_Lotus. The other reason was to meet with someone from her and her father's past. Right on cue, Saikhan's old partner walked into the dinner._

"_Thank you for meeting with me." She said._

_Former Lieutenant Ryuu smiled at her._

"_You're looking good, much better than you did five months ago." He said._

_Jaya gave him a small smile; she knew he had heard from the grapevine about what happened to her at the station's gym._

"_Thank you, it's taken a lot of hard work, but I'm finally starting to feel like my old self again." She said. "So, did you get it?"_

_Ryuu stopped smiling, then reached into the coat he was wearing, pulled out a folder, and handed it to Jaya._

"_I don't know how you convinced Bei Fong to give you this." He said. "And why couldn't you just go to the station and get this yourself?"_

_Jaya took the folder from him._

"_Because she made it clear the day I was put on leave that I wasn't to come back to the station until I was cleared to return to work." She said. "And I had to give her my word that I'm just checking something out from the original investigation and that no information I have will be enough to reopen this case."_

_Ryuu nodded._

"_Good, because it took us three years, the eleven robberies that we know of, and five deaths before we had finally caught this guy." Ryu said._

_Jaya nodded as she opened the folder just enough to see a picture of Masaru, the man who haunted her father's thoughts for years._

"_I read from one of my dad's old journals just how brutal this guy was." She said. "Even after the trial, he kept trying for years to find out the identities of the two victims you weren't able to identify."_

_Ryuu let out a sad sigh._

"_I kept telling him to let it go, the three victims we did identify and the ones were survived were enough to put the guy away for life. But he was determined to find out who they were and give their families closure." He said. "Even Masaru didn't know who they were. He said it was one of his first robberies before he started targeting the city's wealthier citizens and the first time where he actually killed someone. The only things he remembered were that the two looked like they were a couple and they had two young boys with them. After he took them out, he got one more glimpse of the eldest boy before he began running and screaming for help and Masaru took off."_

_Ryuu watched as Jaya put the folder inside her purse, then reached over and took hold of her hand._

"_Listen, I know that you've got your dad's stubbornness and that nothing I say is going to stop you from trying to find out who these people were. But please take my advice and don't let this case get to you like it did to him." He said._

_Jaya looked at him._

"_It's too late, I'm already involved." She said. "And it's not because of him."_

"_What do you mean?" Ryuu asked._

"_When Mako was your partner, did he talk about any other family besides his brother?" She said._

_Ryuu nodded._

"_Yeah, he and his brother brought a whole lot of them back from Ba Sing Se when everything started happening there." He said. "He did mention his parents, but they were killed when he was eight and his brother was six."_

"_Did he say how they were killed?" She asked._

"_Yeah, poor guy saw the whole thing." He said. "They were killed in a mugging by a ..."_

_He stopped as the realization hit him like a punch to the gut before saying,_

_...firebender."_

_Just then, an attractive woman with green eyes, medium length black hair, and olive colored skin ran up to the booth._

"_I'm so sorry I'm late!" She said._

_Then she noticed Ryuu._

"_Oh I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" She said._

_Jaya quickly put on a smile._

"_No, we were just wrapping up. Opal, this is my father's former partner Ryuu." She said. "Ryuu, this is Opal."_

_Ryuu stood up and shook her hand._

"_Nice to meet you, ma'am." He said._

"_Nice to meet you too." Opal said. "Would you like to join us for dinner?"_

"_Oh no, I just came to grab something to eat, saw Jaya here, and sat down to catch up since we haven't seen each other in a while." He said as he got up from the booth. "I'll leave you two to your date."_

_Jaya got up from the booth and gave Ryuu one last hug. As she did, he leaned in to her ear, and whispered,_

"_Keep this one, I like her."_

_before pulling away, turning around, and leaving the diner._

"_What a nice guy." Opal said._

_She leaned over and gave Jaya a kiss on the cheek._

"_Did I keep you waiting long?" She said as she sat down._

_Jaya sat down across from her and took her hand into hers._

"_No, not at all." She said, smiling at the woman she was falling in love with._

_The next evening at sundown, Jaya took the ferry to Air Temple Island and was led by an air acolyte named Daw to the courtyard where Mako and a young watertribe woman in _

_a wheelchair were playing with two children while another young woman and an elderly woman leaned against a polar bear dog watched them. Jaya recognized the children as _

_Kya's niece and nephew and, even with her shorter hair, the Avatar from the newspapers, but she didn't recognize the girl with white hair and green eyes who was wearing _

_female air acolyte clothing or the elderly woman who was wearing earth kingdom clothing._

"_Jaya!" Ikki and Meelo when they saw her._

_They ran over to her and she knelt down in time to catch and hug them. During her week on the island, she had unexpectedly become friends with the entire air acolyte family _

_and the relationship had grown in the weeks since she left. Now she often stayed for dinner with the family on the days that she came to the island for treatment._

"_I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow." Ikki said. "We had dinner already, but Mom can give you some leftovers if you want some."_

"_Thanks Ikki, but I already ate dinner." Jaya said. "I really came here to talk to Mako and his brother."_

_Just then, Mako walked over to her._

"_Hey partner." She said as she stood up._

_She smiled at him. It was the first time he had ever seen her do that._

"_Hey." He said. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you."_

"_I actually came here to talk to you and Bolin." She said before softly adding "Alone."_

_Mako nodded and turned to the kids._

"_Okay you two, time to go get ready for bed." He said._

_Both kids let out a groan._

"_Come on, five more minutes!" Ikki said._

"_Yeah, please!" Meelo said._

_Mako shrugged._

"_Alright." He said. "But Asami won't have time to tell you any stories if you don't get to bed soon."_

_Ikki and Meelo looked at each other for a moment, then turned back to Mako and Jaya._

"_Goodnight!" They both said before running into the house._

_Mako turned back to Jaya._

"_Come on, there's some people I want you to meet." He said._

_He led her over to where Asami and Korra were._

"_Jaya this Korra, Asami, and my grandmother Yin." He said. "Everyone, this is my partner, Jaya."_

_Jaya held out her hand to Asami, who remained seated against Naga with Pabu in her lap._

"_It's a pleasure, Miss Sato." She said._

_Asami smiled and shook her hand._

"_Nice to meet you." She said._

_Then Jaya turned to Korra and held her hand out to her._

"_Avatar Korra, its an honor to finally meet you." She said._

_Korra smiled, shaking her hand._

"_Good to meet you too." She said. "And please, call me Korra."_

_Jaya nodded, smiling back at her._

_Yin just looked at her for a moment, then reached up, placed a loving hand on her cheek, and smiled. The girl in front of her looked nothing like the sick and sad one that Mako _

_brought to the island weeks before._

"_You're looking so much better." She said. "And happier._

_Jaya reached up and touched the hand that was on her cheek._

"_Thank you." She said._

"_I would introduce you to Bolin, but he's at a training session and won't be back for another hour." Mako said, gesturing to Asami and Korra. "And before you say anything, unless this is official police business that only you and I can hear, they stay."_

_Jaya sighed._

"_Fine, but only because officially, this is a closed case." She said. "I was reading through my dad's old police journals and kept coming across a case he and former Lieutenant Ryuu started working on three years before he made Sergeant, a case he kept following even years after it was closed." She said. "Do any of you remember a firebender named Masaru?"_

_The three of them shook their heads._

"_He was a firebender who terrorized the city's richest citizens and robbed them of thousands of yuans over a period of three years." Jaya said. "The luckiest, and smartest, victims just gave him their money and ran the second he let them go. But the ones who took too long to hand over their money or tried to fight back would either be set on fire or electrocuted. During his crime spree, Masaru kill five people and left numerous others scared for life."_

"_That's terrible!" Yin said._

"_My dad kept calling him a monster in his journals." Jaya said. "He was finally caught when one of his victims, another fire and lightening bender, electrocuted Masaru the second he reached for the money. After Masaru passed out, the man dragged him over to a nearby beat cop who was patrolling the area. With the five bodies the police had on him and living witnesses who all testified that he was the one who mugged them, it was easy to put the guy away for life."_

"_But if the guy is in jail, why did your dad keep following the case?" Korra asked. "And what does this have to do with Mako and Bolin?"_

_Jaya reached into her purse and pulled out the file before she continued._

"_Out of Masaru's five victims, the police were only able to identify three and though the case was officially closed, my dad was determined to find out who the two unidentified victims were and give their families closure." She said._

"_Masaru refused to tell?" Mako asked._

"_He didn't even know who they were. They were one of his first robberies before he started targeting the city's wealthier citizens and the first time he killed someone." Jaya said. "All he said about them was that they looked like they were a couple and..."_

_She stopped, not sure if she should continue._

"_And what?" Mako asked. "Jaya, what is it?"_

_She looked him in the eye._

"_They had two young boys with them." She said._

_Mako gasped and his eyes grew wide. Jaya opened the file, took out the picture, and held it out toward him._

"_Mako, do you recognize this man?" She asked._

_With a shaky hand, Mako slowly reached for the photograph, then pulled it back and looked at it. A moment later, the photograph fell from his grasp and he looked down at the _

_ground, too stunned to move._

"_Mako?" Yin said._

_He didn't look up at her, Korra, Asami, or Jaya. All he said, in a voice just above a whisper was,_

"_It's him."_

_The next day, as his shift came to an end, Mako walked up to the door of the chief's office and knocked on it a couple of times._

"_Come in." He heard her call out._

_He opened the door and walked inside before closing it behind him._

"_Ah Mako, I was hoping to catch you before you left." Bei Fong said. "Good news, Kya has cleared Jaya for duty and Healer Huang said if she continues to do as well as she is with her, she'll be able to return in two weeks when she completes her treatment."_

"_That's great!" He said. "But I actually came in here for a different reason."_

"_And what reason would that be?" Bei Fong asked._

"_Who would a victim or the family members of a victim have to talk to in order to get a meeting with the offender at Republic City Prison?" Mako asked._

_Bei Fong let out a sigh._

"_This is about Masaru, isn't it?" She asked._

_Mako looked at her._

"_How did you...?" He began._

"_You know that detectives have to get approval from me before they take case files out of this station, Mako. The only reason I allowed former Lieutenant Ryuu to take the file to Detective Jaya is because it's a closed case and Jaya assured me that any information she obtained wouldn't be enough to open it back up. I thought that she was going to continue her father's work and try to identify Masaru's unknown victims, but then I reread his file and his statements about what he remembers about his first two victims and I realized she already had a pretty good idea about who they were." She said. "Are you sure he's the one who killed your parents?"_

_Mako nodded. Bei Fong already knew about what happened to his parents from his interview with her and his evaluation that Healer Huang had done after he applied to be a police officer. _

"_I'm sure." He said. "I only saw him for a second, but I could never forget his face."_

_Bei Fong nodded._

"_You and your family will have to call the prison and talk to the warden to arrange a time to meet with Masaru, I can get you his telephone number. " She said as she pulled out a small piece of paper and picked up her pen._

"_Actually, it's just going to be me. I talked it over with Bolin this morning and since he barely remembers and never saw what happened, he doesn't want to see him." Mako said. "The rest of my family has no interest in meeting him, but they were wondering if there was anyway we could have my parents' remains so we could have a proper funeral for them."_

_Bei Fong nodded._

"_After all this time, they've likely been cremated. But I'll check with the morgue." She said. "You'll still have to call the warden and arrange a meeting time, but I want you to wait two weeks." Bei Fong said._

_Mako looked at her._

"_What?!" He asked. "Why?!"_

"_So your partner can be there with you." She said._

"_Chief, I promise, I won't lose my cool with him..." Mako began._

"_This isn't about you losing your temper with him, Mako, it's about following protocol. Any victim or family member of a victim must have an officer with them when they meet with an offender. It doesn't matter whether they're an officer themselves or a citizen."_

_Mako let out a sigh._

"_Fine." He said. "I'll wait until Jaya comes back."_

_He took the slip of paper from Bei Fong that now had the telephone number to the jail written on it, thanked her, and left the office. As he made the call to the warden to _

_arrange the meeting two weeks from that day, Mako tried to suppress the feelings and memories from that night years ago when his and his brother's childhoods came to an _

_end long before they were supposed to._

_Finally, after what felt like the longest two weeks of his life, Mako and Jaya walked up to the front desk of Republic City Prison. The officer sitting at the desk looked up at them._

"_Can I help you Detectives?" She asked._

"_Yes, I'm Detective Jaya and this is my partner Detective Mako." Jaya said. "He's here to see the prisoner Masaru."_

"_Alright, sign in and I'll let the warden know you're here." The officer said._

_Jaya and Mako signed in and placed their badges on the desk, then turned and sat down in the waiting area. A few minutes later, the warden came out and walked toward the _

_two of them._

"_Detective Mako, we've been expecting you. Prisoner Masaru is just finishing his yard time and it will take a few minutes to get him situated in the visitors cell." He said. "Now once you enter the visitor's cell, you'll have fifteen minutes to talk to Prisoner Masaru. If you would like to leave anytime before then, just call out to the corrections officer and he will let you and your partner out. Prisoner Masaru will be secured to a metal chair the whole time he is in the visitors cell and will not be able to make any physical contact with you and you will also not be allowed to have any physical contact with him, is that understood?" He said._

_Mako gave him a nod._

"_Yes sir." He said._

"_Alright, you and your partner come with me." He said._

_Jaya and Mako got up and followed him down the hall. When they reached one of the larger cells that reminded Jaya and Mako of the interrogation rooms at the station, the _

_warden stopped. A few moments later, the door to the room slid open and a corrections officer stepped out._

"_Prisoner is secured, sir." He said._

"_Very well, officer." The warden said. "Stay by the door in case these detectives want to leave the cell early. I'll be back when their time is up."_

"_Yes sir." The corrections officer said._

_The warden turned back to Jaya and Mako._

"_Detectives." He said as he motioned for them to enter the cell._

_They gave him a nod and walked into the cell, the door closing the moment they were both inside._

_They looked toward the center of the room, where a man who was handcuffed to a chair that was made of platinum so that that even the strongest metalbender couldn't get out _

_of it, not that that mattered to the firebender currently secured to it. He looked over at Jaya._

"_Madam Officer, I am locked into to this chair and am no threat to your partner or you." Masaru said._

"_I'm not here to protect my partner, Masaru. I'm here to protect you from him." She said. "And don't you dare call me Madam Officer again or I may just have to step out and let whatever happens happen."_

_Marasu gave her a nod._

"_Understood, I didn't mean any disrespect." He said._

_He turned to Mako, who was looking at him with eyes full of anger._

"_Hello, my name is Masaru and they tell me that my two unknown victims were your parents." He said. "I'm sorry for what I've done and I hope this visit with me will bring you the peace you are seeking."_

_Mako let out a huff and turned away from him._

"_Do you really think saying 'I'm sorry' is going to make up for what you've done?" He said._

"_No young man, I know it won't. I could go on and on about how I'm not the same person as I was back then, but that won't bring you're parents back." Masaru said. "You have every right to hate me for what I did and I don't blame you if you hate me for the rest of your life."_

_Mako walked up to him until he was just in arms reach, but kept his eyes to the floor. His shaking hands were clinched in tight fists and Jaya could clearly see the smoke coming _

_off of them._

"_Keep it together, Mako." She thought. "Don't lose your cool."_

"_You know, ever since I was eight years old, I've thought of you as the monster who took away my parents. Late at night, after my brother went to sleep, I used to think of ways I could have taken you down and saved them." He said. "But now, seeing you sitting here, I realized just how pathetic you really are and how stupid I was for wasting so much time thinking about you. I'm just grateful that my brother barely remembers that night and that the few nightmares he has don't have your face in them." _

_He finally looked up at the man who looked older than he truly was before continuing._

"_And you're right, I do hate you and I have ever since that night. But if I hate you for the rest of my life, then my whole life would be about my parents' killer. They loved my brother and me more than we could ever imagine and I know how ashamed they would be if my whole life was consumed by my hate for you. So somehow, I have to let go of this hate and forgive you. Somehow, I'll have to forget you the second I walk out that door and never think of you again."_

_He looked Masaru straight in the eye._

"_But I hope the imagine of that scared eight year-old boy stays with you until you last breath of your miserable life." He said. "Goodbye Masaru."_

_Not waiting for a reply, Mako turned and walked toward the entrance of the room. Jaya, who was still standing at the entrance, turned around and banged on the door._

"_CO, we're done!" She called out._

_A second later, the door opened and Mako walked out with Jaya at his heels. They left the station and Jaya drove him to the docks._

"_Do you need me to stay?" She asked._

_Mako shook his head and got out of the car._

"_I'll see you later." He said before shutting the door._

_Jaya watched as he ran across the street to the docks and boarded the ferry, then headed back to her apartment, exhausted after her long, emotional day._

_When Mako arrived on the island, he headed straight for his room at the men's dormitory, wanting to be alone after everything that had happened at the prison. When he _

_opened the door, he found a box sitting on the room's small desk. He walked over to it and pulled the envelope that was taped on the lid off, opened it, and pulled out the letter _

_inside. He pulled out his desk chair, sat down, unfolded the letter, and began to read:_

Mako,

After I had the urns containing your parents' ashes delivered to the station, I went through the two boxes of the evidence that were collected from the scene of your parents' murder to see if there was anything that you would want to keep. Most of it was just tattered and burnt pieces of clothes and crime scene photographs that you don't want to see (trust me on this), but I did find something in your mother's box that I believe you and your brother might want back and have enclosed it in this box. I've also included the name and telephone number of the funeral home that has put together the funerals of fallen officers in the past. They're reasonably priced and you can find much better urns there than the ones that the morgue used.

One more thing, I'm giving you the rest of the week off to be with your family during this difficult time. I know that you both have been trying to find closure in what happened to your parents and I hope that after today you have finally found it and can start to move on with your life.

Sincerely,

Chief Bei Fong

_Mako stared at the letter for several moments before putting it down on the desk and turning back to the box. After breaking the seal made by the tape, he lifted up the lid and _

_found the two urns and a small object that was wrapped in towel, all of which were being cushioned by several crumpled up pieces of newspaper. He carefully removed the urns _

_from the box, seeing the nametags on them that read "Unknown Male" and "Unknown Female" and their case numbers. The urns were made of metal and clearly old and Mako _

_knew he could never keep his parents apart like that._

"_Don't worry." He said. "You'll be together soon."_

_Then he reached inside the box and pulled out the small object that was wrapped in the towel. Placing it on the desk, he carefully unwrapped it and what he saw made his heart _

_stop. Inside the towel, burnt but still intact, was a small, stuffed badgermole._

"_Moki..." He breathed._

_The site of Bolin's favorite toy made the memories that he had tried so hard to suppress for the past two weeks came rushing back to him._

_His parents, him, and Bolin going out to eat for his father's birthday..._

_His mother giving his father a new scarf and his father taking the one he was wearing off and wrapping around Mako's neck, telling him that as long as it wrapped it around his _

_neck, he would be protected..._

_His mother telling him and Bolin to save some room for their father's birthday cake when they got home..._

_Them leaving the restaurant and his father deciding to take them through a shortcut home through the alley since it was sunset and still light out..._

_The blowing wind knocking off his scarf just after they turned a corner and him running back to get it with Bolin handing Moki to their mother before running after him..._

_Him catching the scarf, wrapping it back around his neck, taking his little brother by the hand, and walking back to his parents..._

_Hearing angry shouting as they got closer to his parents and looking around the corner just in time to see Masaru burn his parents alive and getting a brief glimpse of the _

_coward firebender before grabbing Bolin's hand and running back to the street, screaming for help..._

_Overcome with emotion, Mako clutched the burnt stuffed animal to his chest as he collapsed to the floor and began to sob. He was still crying when the door to his room opened _

_and Korra wheeled herself inside and over to Mako, who looked up at her with tear-filled eyes._

"_Korra?" He said._

"_Shh." She said. "Come on, let's get you more comfortable."_

_She helped him to his feet and over to the bed, then stripped him down to his underwear and undershirt. When she tried to move away, he reached out and grabbed the _

_wheelchair._

"_Don't leave." He said softly. "Please."_

_Korra had never seen him so broken before._

"_I'm just going to put your clothes away." She said. "I'll be right back, I promise."_

_Mako reluctantly let go of the chair and Korra wheeled herself over to the closet, hung his uniform up, and put his shoes away before returning to the bed, where Mako was now _

_l__aying down, curled into the ball and clutching the burnt stuffed animal to his chest. She reached over and began running her fingers through his short hair as he looked back up _

_at her._

"_It's okay." She said. "I'm right here."_

_Mako sniffled._

"_Korra do you thick...if you don't mind..." He tried to say as he looked away from her._

"_What is it?" Korra asked._

_He turned back to her._

"_Do you mind laying down with me?" He said. "I swear, I won't do anything you're not comfortable with. I just...I can't be alone right now."_

_Korra gave him a small, sad smile._

"_Move over." She said._

_Mako slid over until his back hit the wall while Korra took off her armbands, untied the fur around her waist, pulled her boots off, pushed herself out of the wheelchair and onto _

_the bed, and laid down next to him. When she was comfortable, she reached her arms out towards him._

"_Come here." She said._

_Mako moved back towards her, wrapped his arms around her, buried his face into her chest, and began to cry again. Korra reach up and started running her fingers through his _

_hair again while her other hand rubbed up and down his back. She continued to do this over the next few hours, providing silent comfort to Mako as he finally allowed himself to _

_do what he had never done since his parents' death._

_Grieve for them._

Mako let out a yawn as he reached for his cup of coffee, only to realize it was empty. He looked up at the store, then back at Jaya.

"The store is open." He said. "What another cup?"

"I'll get it." She said as she opened the door and got out. "Radio the station and tell them we're coming back."

Mako nodded and pulled the receiver off the radio as he watched Jaya run across the street to the small corner store they had been watching all night. He put the receiver up to

his mouth.

"Unit Four to base, Unit Four to base." He said.

"Base here, go ahead." He heard.

"There's been no sign of our suspect all night and the sun's out, we're heading back." Mako said.

"Affirmative Unit Four, see you when you get here." He heard.

Mako put the receiver back on the radio and let out a sigh. He had been up all night and his day wasn't over yet. When they got back to the station, they would have to attend a

debriefing with Bei Fong and get his paycheck, go back to the island, wake Bolin up and get him ready for the day, take him to breakfast, give him his pain medicine, take him

to the city for his doctor's appointment and physical therapy, use half of his paycheck to pay some of Bolin's medical bills, go to the bank and put the other half of his paycheck

in the account that he had set up to help pay for homes for the family members that had chosen to stay in the city, including his grandmother, get him and Bolin back to the

island in time for lunch, and work on paperwork from two cases from earlier that week that both needed to be turned in the next day and that he could hopefully finish by

dinnertime.

"If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get to bed by the time the sun goes down." He thought to himself.

Jaya walked into the convenient store and over to the counter, where an older man of Watertribe descent was cleaning off the front counter.

"Can I get two regular coffees please?" She asked.

"Coming right up, ma'am." He said, smiling at her.

She smiled back at him, then walked away from the counter to look around the store for some breakfast for herself. As she walked away from the counter, a little girl with a

pink dragonfly-rabbit spirit on her shoulder walked up to the counter and carefully put the basket she was carrying on the counter.

"Here you go, Mr Kesuk." She said.

Kesuk smiled at the girl, then looked inside the basket and took out all the items out.

"Alright, let's see what we have in here, Miss Anana." He said. "A loaf of bread, a bottle of milk, a stick of butter, and..."

He pulled out three small wooden circles that were connected to each other. Each circle had a bell attached to it.

"What in the world is this?" Kesuk asked.

"It's a toy for Mimi." Anana said, referring to the dragonfly-rabbit spirit on her shoulder. "Mama says she cries all day while I'm at school, so I'm hoping she can play with this while I'm gone."

Just then, the door to store opened and a boy who looked to be thirteen walked inside. The second Jaya saw him, she knew he was trouble. She walked back over to the front

counter and stood in front of Anana, preparing to use the metal cables that were strapped to her back and were being hidden by her coat. A second later, lightening shot out of

the boy's hand, hitting the bottle of milk that was in Kesuk's hand and shattering it to pieces.

"Open the register, old man!" He shouted.

Kesuk just stood there, glaring at the boy.

"What are you, deaf?!" The boy shouted. "Open the register, NOW!"

Mako was sitting in the car, still thinking about the day he had ahead of him, when he saw a flash of light coming from the store. Jumping out of the car, he ran across the

street and into the store to find a boy holding onto Jaya's cables and shooting lightening through them, making her scream as he electrocuted her. Behind her, trying to pull her

free and being electrocuted himself was Kesuk.

"Police!" Mako shouted. "Freeze!"

What happened next was so fast that Mako didn't have time to react. The boy let go of the cables, turned around, and shot a fireball at Mako before running out of the store.

"Argh!" Mako cried as the fireball hit him in the chest, burning up his shirt and undershirt until they was nothing but burnt pieces of cloth hanging onto his blistering skin.

Ignoring the pain he was in, he ran out of the store and after the boy, only to find that he had disappeared. He ran over to the left side of the building and looked down the alley

to find no one there, then ran over to the right side of the building, only to find the same thing. Knowing that the alleyways went on for miles, how it was dangerous to go in by

himself in his condition, and that Jaya and Kesuk needed help, Mako ran back into the store and over to the unconscious forms of Jaya and Kesuk. The man lay there with his

eyes open and glassy and despite knowing that there was no hope for him, Mako checked for a pulse and a heartbeat, but found nothing. Letting out a sad sigh, he reached up

and closed his eyes before turning to Jaya. He checked for a pulse and heartbeat, relief flooding through him when he found them. That's when Mako heard what sounded like a

whimper coming from behind him. He turned around and saw what looked to be a blue-eyed little girl peaking from behind the counter.

"Hey there, you can come out now." He said. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

The little girl didn't move, so Mako reached for his belt and pulled off the badge that was clipped to it.

"My name is Mako and I'm a police officer, see?" He said, holding his badge up so she could see it. "Can you tell me your name?"

This time, the little girl slowly came out from her hiding place, holding a pink dragonfly-rabbit spirit.

"Anana." She said, holding up her dragonfly rabbit spirit. "This is Mimi."

Mako smiled at her.

"She's really cute." He said. "I know a little girl your age who has a dragonfly-rabbit spirit like yours, except hers is purple."

Anana gave him a small smile back, but it disappeared when she saw Kesuk's body. She turned back to Mako.

"Mr. Kesuk's not gonna wake up, is he?" She asked.

Mako was quiet for a moment, then he turned back to Jaya, lifted her up, and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. Using one hand to wrap around his partner's waist to hold

her up, he held out his hand to Anana.

"Come on, I'm taking you all somewhere safe." He said.

Anana took his hand and Mako led her and Jaya out of the store. As he was checking for cars before they crossed the street, he heard Anana scream,

"Look out!"

He turned and saw the boy again. He shot two fire blasts at him which the boy easily dodged before he shot another fireball at him. Thinking quickly, Mako unwrapped Jaya's

arm from his shoulder and held her and Anana against his chest, shielding them. A second later, he let out another cry of pain as the fireball hit him in the back and caused him

to fall to his knees, taking Jaya and Anana with him. His yelling awoke Jaya and she opened her eyes to find Mako hunched over and breathing hard and the little girl with the

pink dragonfly rabbit spirit looking at them with pure fear in her eyes.

"Mako...What...?" She began, confused.

Then she saw the condition that he was in and let out a gasp.

"Spirits Mako, what happened?!" She said.

Anana began to cry.

"That boy killed Mr. Kesuk, then he hurt you and Mr. Mako!" She sobbed. "He shot fireballs at him!"

Jaya looked around for the boy, but he had disappeared again and she knew she had to get Mako and the little girl to safety before he came back. She turned to Mako.

"Can you stand?" She asked.

Mako nodded and tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't do what he wanted. He tried again and nothing happened. Terror filled him as looked at his partner.

"Jaya." He said. "I can't move my legs."

A look of fear appeared on Jaya's face, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"You're probably just in shock." She said. "We have to get you to the hospital."

She put his arm around her shoulder, grabbed his side, and gently lifted him up. He yelled in pain.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"It's okay." He said. "Just get me to car."

Jaya turned back to Anana and held out her hand, which the little girl instantly took it while the other arm held her dragonfly-rabbit against her chest. After a quick check to

make sure there were no cars coming, Jaya slowly led Anana and half carried and half dragged Mako across the street to her car. By the time they reached it, she was

exhausted and knew she couldn't hold Mako up much longer. She looked at Anana.

"Can you open the back door please?" She asked.

Anana nodded and opened the back door of the car. Jaya sat Mako, who by now had passed out, in the middle seat so that she could keep an eye on him from the front, leaned

him back the best she could, and closed the door. Next she opened the front passenger door.

"Come on, you get in the front with me." She told Anana.

Anana climbed into the front seat and Jaya shut the door before running over to the driver's side and climbing in, shutting the door behind her. By now Jaya's heart was

pounding and she knew that something was wrong, but she didn't want to scare the little girl next to her more than she already was.

"Alright, I have to call the police station and tell them what happened." She said. "You have to be quiet while I do this, understand?"

Anana nodded and Jaya reached down and turned the radio on, picked up the receiver, and held it up to her mouth.

"Unit Four to Base! Unit Four to Base! Ten-Thirteen! Ten-Thirteen!" She said.

A second later she heard back,

"This is Base, what's the problem Unit Four?"

"Attempted robbery at our stake-out! One DoA, one officer down, one injured, and one survivor!" She said.

"Copy that Unit Four, all available units are on the way! Standing by for description of suspect!" The operator said.

By now Jaya's breathing was becoming labored.

"Suspect is...fire and lightening bender...age thirteen or fourte..."

The last words faded as the line went dead.

When the first police cars arrived five minutes later, they found a severely burnt and unconscious Mako, a passed out Jaya, and a hysterical Anana trying everything to wake her

up.


	3. Day Interrupted

In an apartment across the city, the chief of police was awoken by rising sun shining through her bedroom window and hitting her in the face. Letting out a groan, she turned

over and buried her face into the strong tan chest of the man whose arms were wrapped around her. She felt him pull her closer to him and place a kiss on the top of her head

before sleepily saying,

"Morning Linny."

Lin lazily smacked him on the arm.

"You forgot to close the curtains again." She murmured.

She heard him chuckle.

"Kinda hard to do when you've got a beautiful woman making out with you while she's trying to get your pants off." He said.

Lin pulled away from his chest and looked up at him.

"Flatterer." She said.

"Nope, just stating the truth." He said. "Now where's my morning kiss?"

Lin rolled her eyes, but leaned up and placed a kiss on the lips of Aang and Katara's oldest child. Despite the many kisses the two had shared over the years as their friends with

benefits relationship slowly turned into a romantic one, each one always either left Lin breathless or weak in the knees, not that she would ever admit that. After a few

moments, they pulled apart and Bumi began trailing kisses up Lin's jaw.

"What time do you have to meet Opal and Su?" He asked, referring to appointment she had with her sister and niece to find a wedding dress for Opal before going to lunch.

"Not till 11:00." Lin said. "Usual time for you and Kesuk?"

"Yup." Bumi said as he moved the kisses to Lin's neck.

"Good." Lin said.

She placed her hands on Bumi's shoulders and pushed him onto his back and straddled his waist. Then she leaned down and gently kissed and sucked on his neck, making sure

to leave a mark, before trailing the kisses downward while Bumi let out moans of pleasure and tangled his fingers in her hair. She had just placed a kiss on the center of his

stomach when the telephone on her beside table began to ring. Bumi let out a groan as Lin stopped what she was doing and moved toward it.

"If it's my brother, remind him that it's my day off and to find someone else to lead the exercises today." He said.

They both figured it had to be Tenzin calling to order him to come back to Air Temple Island because it was common knowledge at the police station that you didn't call the Chief

in on her day off unless it was absolutely necessary and couldn't wait till she returned. Lin grabbed the telephone on its third ring.

"Bei Fong." She said. "What?!...When did the call come in?!...Any deaths?...Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes."

She hung up and turned to Bumi.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"The thief that's been breaking into convenient stores struck again about a half an hour ago." She said. "They took down the two detectives that were staking the place out before running from the scene."

Bumi's face turned serious.

"Was it Kesuk's store?" He asked.

Lin didn't know how to answer him, but her silence was all the answer Bumi needed.

"Is he...?" He began to say but couldn't finish.

"I don't know, I'll know more when I get there." She said as she walked over to her dresser and began to pull out clothes.

"I'm coming with you." Bumi said.

He got out of bed and began looking around the room for his own clothes.

"No, it's better if you go back to the island and wait there." Lin said. "Once I get more information, I'll come to island and tell you all."

Bumi was confused about why she would come all the way to the island just to give him an update when it would have been easier for her to just call him. Then the realization

of what she was saying hit him.

"Lin, the two officers that were hurt." He said. "They were Mako and Opal's fiancé, weren't they?"

Lin turned to him as she finished bending on her uniform.

"Please don't tell anyone anything, Bumi, I don't want to cause a panic." She said. "I'll be at the island in one hour tops."

She walked over to him and placed one more kiss on his lips.

"I love you." She said before leaving him alone to get dressed.

The police had taped off the area around the entrance to the store and was holding off the press when Lin arrived. The second she got out of her car, she was instantly

bombarded with questions about whether or not this was the same person responsible for the other robberies around the city and why the police hadn't done anything to stop

them. Lin just kept repeating the same thing,

"I have no comment at this time."

One of the officers guarding the entrance helped her through the crowd and into the store, where the investigation had already begun. Sergeant Song, who had been talking to

one of two officers who had first arrived at the scene, saw her enter the store and walked over to her, motioning the officer to follow him.

"Chief." He said.

"Sergeant, Officer." Lin said. "What do we have?"

"Detective Mako radioed the station just after dawn and told us they were heading back from their stake-out. Ten minutes later, we received a Ten-Thirteen from Detective Jaya telling us that there was an attempted robbery and that Mako was down and she was hurt." Song said. "Besides them, there was one survivor, an eight year old girl, and the store's owner...

He paused for a moment.

"What is it, Sergeant?" Lin said.

He didn't answer her, instead looking over at the counter. Lin turned in the direction he was looking and saw two other officers standing over Kesuk's still form. One of the

officers took a few pictures before turning to the second officer and giving him a nod. The officer unfolded the police blanket he was holding and draping it over the body.

"Chief?" Lin heard the Sergeant say, bringing her back to reality.

She turned back to Song and the officer.

"Sorry." She said. "Where are we on our suspect?"

"Detective Jaya was able to radio a brief description before she passed out, but all we have is that it's a thirteen or fourteen year-old fire and lightening bender." Song said.

"Did you question the little girl?" Lin asked.

"My partner and I tried to when we arrived, but she was too upset to answer any of our questions." The officer said. "My partner took her to the hospital to get her checked out along with Detectives Mako and Jaya while I stayed here and started investigating the area."

"You didn't radio the hospital for an ambulance?" Lin asked.

"There was no time to wait for one, Chief. Detective Jaya was barely breathing and Detective Mako...it looked like the skin was falling off his body." He said.

Lin nodded.

"Alright, we've got enough officers here. Go to the hospital and you and your partner try to question the girl again. Try to at least get her contact information so we notify her parents." She said.

The officer gave her a nod and Lin turned to Song.

"Sergeant, stay here and continue with the investigation and keep me informed of any new information you get." She said.

The Sergeant nodded and Lin turned and left the store.

"Why isn't she going to the hospital to check on the detectives or the girl?" The officer asked.

Song let out a sigh. Both the officer and his partner were rookies, having only been on the job for a week.

"Because the only thing that the healers will do is tell her to contact their families." He said. "They don't give information about any victims' condition out to anyone but their families."

"So where is she going?" The officer asked.

"My guess is Air Temple Island." Song said. "Her niece is an Air Acolyte and Detective Jaya's fiancé and besides, someone has to tell the Avatar that her boyfriend is dying."


End file.
